Pledging Myself to You

At first, the Buli People thought this star skiff was merely on a routine voyage. But when you rushed straight through customs without inspection, the Buli Fleet in the spaceport realized something was wrong.

Still, this was only a minor matter to them. Dispatching starships to chase a few pieces of fodder and a nearly scrapped star skiff simply was not worth it. After all, you were worth less than the fuel. Thus, only a single Shi Rou Behemoth was sent to capture you.

The Shi Rou Behemoth was not especially fast, but it was more than capable of pursuing an old star skiff. Before long, the distance between you and the space beast grew ever smaller. The beast attacked, destroying the skiff's engines and forcing you to land in an abandoned spaceport.

When disaster struck, everyone fled for themselves. Several workers jumped from the star skiff and ran in every direction through the spaceport. Those Buli People seemed to enjoy this game of cat and mouse. Rather than letting the Shi Rou Behemoth swallow you whole, they split up to hunt you down.

In the unmanned port, where only a few mechanical lifeforms still barely functioned, you ran for your life with two dog-headed Buli People in humanoid forms chasing behind you.

You had no idea how long you had been running until you spotted a spacecraft and two figures in the distance. Though you did not know who they were, you ran toward them, clinging to your last shred of hope.

"Bai Heng, how many star skiffs have you crashed this month?"

"The third... or, uh, maybe the fourth. But that isn't important. Let's first see where we are."

Holding a recurve bow, Bai Heng smiled and scratched her fox ears as she looked toward Jingliu, who stood at the prow of the star skiff.

At that moment, the breathtaking woman with long hair somewhere between silver and blue-gray, a dark green ribbon tied around her circular bun, blood-red eyes, a black lacquered sword in hand, skin white as snow, and a cold presence like the moon was narrowing her eyes at the boy running toward them from afar.

When the boy drew near, Jingliu pointed her sword at his throat and asked, "Who are you?"

You panted heavily, your mouth dry and your voice hoarse. "Run... run! Big sisters, there's a monster behind me."

"A monster?" Jingliu tilted her head slightly and looked into the distance.

A moment later, Jingliu noticed the vague outline of the Shi Rou Behemoth in the distance.

"An Abomination of Abundance..." she murmured, withdrawing the Zhilí Sword from your throat before saying to Bai Heng, "Bai Heng, keep an eye on him."

"Sure." Bai Heng nodded, walked over to your side, and said with an exceptionally infectious smile, "Relax, relax. This big sister specializes in dealing with monsters like that."

As soon as she finished speaking, Jingliu stepped forward in her long Cloud Knight boots. The pitch-black Zhilí Sword in her hand glowed with a bloody radiance.

Seemingly noticing new prey, the Shi Rou Behemoth slowed down.

Once the target entered its attack range, the two Buli People ordered the Shi Rou Behemoth to attack, intending to test these two sudden newcomers.

But just as acid churned inside the Shi Rou Behemoth's mouth and surged toward its throat, about to spew forth—

Jingliu raised the Zhilí Sword and casually swung it at a speed visible to the naked eye. Frosty mist curled around the blade as it stirred the air around her like a hand parting ocean waves.

In an instant, frost covered the ground. Blades of ice erupted from the earth one after another until they pierced through the Shi Rou Behemoth's bloated body.

Before the two Buli People could react, Jingliu dashed forward, her figure like the bright moon. With a single thrust, she cut them down together with the Shi Rou Behemoth.

Its flesh split open as the frost-covered Shi Rou Behemoth crashed heavily to the ground.

Jingliu sheathed her sword, her expression cold as frost, and silently returned to the star skiff.

"Huh?" You stared blankly at the scene before you.

But quick-witted as ever, you flashed forward, slid on your knees, and hugged her leg. "Sword Immortal Sister, I can never repay your life-saving grace. I can only offer myself to you."

You were kicked flying. Fortunately, she held back, so you did not die on the spot.

Jingliu cleared out every Buli Person in the spaceport, but unfortunately, aside from you, the other people who had escaped were all killed by the Buli People.

Three days later, you arrived aboard a star skiff at the Xianzhou Luofu. Seeing such a flourishing spectacle for the first time felt like riding a roller coaster from hell to heaven. After confirming that this was not a dream, you learned that the woman who had saved you that day was actually the Luofu's Sword Champion. You knew that had to be an incredibly high-ranking position, which only strengthened your resolve to cling to her. So, you decided to become a servant at Sword Champion Manor.

The one who agreed to let you work at Sword Champion Manor was an older brother named Jing Yuan, while Jingliu herself was utterly indifferent. After that, your daily work consisted of washing clothes, boiling water, and cooking meals. Since the Sword Champion preferred peace and quiet, the manor had only two or three servants, along with Jing Yuan, her disciple.

As the days passed, you gradually grew accustomed to life here. On the days you were on duty, you rose at dawn because Jingliu had a habit of bathing in the morning. You prepared hot water for her in advance, then readied breakfast. After Jingliu left the manor to train at the Cloud Knights' drill grounds, you cleaned the manor gardens alongside the other servants. Then, timing things carefully, you prepared the Sword Champion's dinner and bathwater in the evening.

After some time, your cooking caught Jingliu's attention. Having nearly forgotten that you even existed, she began requiring you to handle all three of her daily meals.

At eight years old, you often brought meals to the drill grounds where Jingliu trained in martial arts. You therefore secretly picked up a move or two, and when you had nothing better to do, you would practice several forms with a wooden sword.

Perhaps having noticed your talent for swordsmanship, she became somewhat interested in you. She agreed to exchange a few moves with you, and your reaction was extremely fast—you immediately started calling her Master Jingliu.

Because you were short-lived, she initially did not have high expectations for your swordsmanship. But as time passed, she discovered that there was something unusual about you. Sword techniques that took others half a year or more to learn took you only three days to comprehend. After studying incomplete sword arts for a time, you could even deduce the missing portions.

At nine years old, your swordsmanship continued to advance by leaps and bounds, and you managed to condense sword intent. At the same time, you found a lone copy of a dual-cultivation sword manual. Excitedly, you went to Master Jingliu and said, "Master Jingliu, let's dual cultivate!"